CPO Maino farewelled – The National

Close protection officer Sgt Fred Setu paying his respect during the funeral of his late colleague First Const Neil Maino at the McGregor Chapel in Port Moresby on Friday. Setu survived the accident in Morobe. – Nationalpic by KENNEDY BANI

By GEORGINA KOREI
LATE First Constable Neil Maino is the first close protection officer (CPO) to have died with his principal, police Commissioner David Manning says.
Maino and late Deputy Prime Minister Sam Basil died in a road accident in Morobe earlier this month.
“It is first in the history of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary that a CPO passed away with his principal while on duty,” he said.
Manning said it was an unfortunate situation and also showed how much late Maino loved the uniform.
Speaking at his funeral service in Port Moresby on Thursday, Manning said: “Neil served and protected the late deputy prime minister with honour, courage and bravery until his last breath.”
Manning described late Maino as a hero.
“He served in his professional life with distinction but he also balanced fairly his personal life as a family man,” he said.
Former police commissioner Jeffery Vaki described Maino as a loyal police officer who was passionate about his job until death.
“Maino as the son of a police officer grew up in our eyes at the Gordon Police Barracks (Port Moresby) and that’s where his dream of becoming a policeman himself began,” Vaki said. “He is my nephew and I can say that he was someone who was family-oriented.”
Late Maino’s body was taken to Bereina in Central and laid to rest at his Aipeana village on Saturday.
His colleagues from the National Security Unit gave him a 21 gun shots send off.